Calavo Posts Loss, Cites Smaller California Crop

Avocado seller Calavo Growers Inc. swung to a loss in the latest quarter, hurt by a cyclically smaller California crop and the expense of complying with federal securities regulations, the company said.

For the quarter ended Oct. 31, Santa Paula-based Calavo lost $517,000, or 4 cents a share, on sales of $62.2 million. That compared with a profit of $1.1 million, or 8 cents, on sales of $65.4 million a year earlier. For the year, earnings fell 47% to $3.3 million, or 24 cents a share. Revenue dipped 5.6% to $258.8 million.

California growers produced 300 million pounds of avocado last year, almost a third less than in 2004. Calavo’s avocado sales dropped by 54 million pounds.